Light snow not expected to stay for long, says meteorologist

The province is expected to get a brief taste of winter starting as early as Wednesday night.

Some form of precipitation is expected but whether it will be rain or snow isn’t yet settled, said Kyle McAulay, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.

“It’s really going to depend on the surface temperature as it’s going to be pretty close to zero degrees. A few degrees warmer, it might be just be rain. A few degrees cooler, could be more snow,” McAulay said.

“Not a guarantee, like most things in weather … I would say moderately likely that we’ll see some snow overnight.”

At most, McAulay is predicting a “light dusting,” with the overnight low for Regina forecast to be just above the freezing mark, at 1 C.

With the mercury rising to 5 C the next day, he doesn’t think the snow will stick around.

“It’s going to be pretty wet and slushy and it’s going to be pretty hard to accumulate, especially if it’s … (preceded by) rain or followed by rain as temperatures warm up.”

Conditions will be similar in Saskatoon, McAulay said, with rain on Wednesday night possibly turning to snow, followed by a daytime high of 7 C.

“Our temperatures are a little bit cooler in Saskatoon. We have a low of minus one, so a bit more likely that we’ll see some snow in Saskatoon, possibly some accumulation there,” he said.

“Maybe, I would say a centimetre or two. But with the rain coming in Thursday morning, it’s more likely going to wash it all away.”